hello everyone,

i have the following vehicle:
dodge ram van b2500
1997
5.2l v8 engine
190k

anyways to make a long story short my main vehicle (jeep grand cherokee) broke down the other day (believe its a fuel pump issue) and I am using my van until it gets fixed.

I have a list of things to fix on both vehicles most minor things(except for the current issue on the jeep).

however now that i am driving the van more than normal and i thought this issue was starting before but always kept forgetting about it, i believe the wheel bearings are going bad but not sure how to test this to be sure.

i've had the van for just over a year and have done a number of things glad i got it cheap.

whats happening is: it will start driving just fine then (and it don't always do it) it feels like its having a hard time moving and you get a vibration and noise coming (i think) from the front passenger side and when it starts this if you hit the brakes it pulls to the right and you get a grinding thumbing noise. it usually does it when you hit highway speeds 45+mph.

so I am trying to figure out how to make sure thats the problem before i spend money (i don't really have) to fix something thats not the problem.

the reason i think its the wheel bearsings is my mothers car a while ago had her bearings go bad and this is very similar.

the other problem i have is there does not seem to be any real good information source out there with videos or step by step instructions for dodge vans (not a caravan), all i ever seem to come up iwth are the ram pickups when i search so i can't tell how accurate the videos are with the van.

perhaps the van b2500 is the same style for most stuff as the ram 2500 pickup i don't know.

but any help would be appreciated.

thanks

ryan

 

The pulling of the brakes makes me think you need to replace the front brake hoses. This is a common problem with these vans.
Checking wheel bearings is pretty easy, you just raise the wheel off the ground and try to tilt it in and out from the top and bottom. If it has a lot of movement (compare to other side) then you have a problem.
Steve

 

but if that was it woudn't it always pull?? it only does that when the noise starts. to me it feels like a bearing or more has a flat spot.

 

You may have more than 1 problem. I would lift the front of the van and compare how each wheel spins. Checking wheel bearings is a bit hard to explain, you may want to watch a few youtube videos or obtain a manual.
I am pretty sure any swerving is the result of bad brake hoses, I've been through that before and didn't believe it until I changed them.
Cheers, Steve

 

if the brake hoses was bad shouldn't it to it all the time. this don't happen most of the time.

to me driving it just feels like a bearing with a flat spot and when it hits the flat spot it stops moving for a while and thats when the issue is happening.

problem with videos is there is virtually nothing for the van itself always a ram pickup

i can't find any good manuals for a reasonable price. the chiltons manual is crap but the van didn't even come with an owners manual

 

If you feel that your wheels are locking up you need to stop driving the van.

I had a look and I guess finding a video is not that easy so I will post a few to get you along. The first thing to know is that your van has serviceable bearings, it does not have hub assemblies like many newer vehicles.

Here is a video on how to check front wheel bearings, there are more out there but it's pretty much to the point. If you can jiggle the wheel more than just a tiny bit the wheel bearings are either bad or just need adjustment.


Here is one video on how to pull things apart and change the bearings. It is pretty good but it's fast because the guy has decent tools and is doing it at a pace to make money off of it.
Inspection includes cleaning everything out and looking for grit and metal debris. If the bearing cups or rollers are dull then they are bad, they should be shiny.
What he neglects to mention is how to really set the hub nut tension. What I like to do is to get everything back together including putting the wheel on and then spin the wheel while hitting the sidewall of the tire with a sledge hammer a few times before final adjustment. That will make sure the hub is properly seated on the wheel bearings and that the nut isn't just hung up on a thread or something.

How to grease a bearing by hand

I think the problem will become pretty apparent when you get the front wheels off the ground.

 

to help you better understand what SteveR is saying, I am adding this explanation...

jack up the front, one side at a time if you can't do both at the same time...
spin the tires with your hand... bad bearings will often make some grinding noise where you should hear nothing... but you may hear the calipers riding on the rotor which sounds different than the bad wheel bearings noise...

also grab the tire at 3 and 9 o'clock and rock the entire wheel and try to rock it side to side, it should have no movement... spinning noise and rocking motion indicate bad bearings...

the rubber hose that fits to the back of the caliper from the steel brake line deteriorates inside where you cannot see it... as you drive and brake, fluid is pushed into the caliper, but because of the hose collapsing inside the fluid cannot escape back out, which holds the caliper against the rotor, eventually overheating the wheel and causing it to pull to one side... IF you have never changed the hoses, just DO IT... it needs new hoses anyway... you will have to bleed the brakes after doing this so buy a big can of brake fluid too... unless you buy a brake fluid pump, you will need two people to bleed the brake and a narrow deep jar... youtube I'm sure will have a vid of the project

 

hello guys,

sorry for the delay in any response i do appreciate all the replies. I was thinking about replacing all the parts new rotors with hub assembly, calipers, pads and hoses but I have other repairs on my jeep as well and I might have an expensive part to purchase for it(the pcm) so I didn't want to spend most of my available money on these parts.

while the parts are old everything works right in terms of braking and such until the bearing issue happens which is not constant which makes me think a few bearings have flat stops or are stuck.

with that said I did purchase new bearings for the front end (both sides).

the other day i took the tires off to see if i could do any tests on the bearings unfortunately it had not been doing it lately so the bearings are not in their so called problem position. with that said the drivers side was packed full of grease both old and new. to me it seems a good mechanic would not mix old and new grease together this also indicates there was an issue that they just decided to pack full of grease to mask the issue long enough to trade in or get sold (depending on who did it the person who traded it in or the dealer). the passenger side didn't have nearly the amount of great probably the correct amount but it was just old grease not any new grease which also indicates to me that the drivers side had some issue.

literately i don't think you could pack any more grease in when i took off the cap grease just started to fall out.

I have all of my parts (hopefully) for my vehicle repairs and hopefully tomorrow will start making large gains in getting stuff done on the van then move onto the jeep.

I started taking the stuff off the engine (fan shroud, alternator, belt, etc) so i can get to the engine coolant temp sensor replaced so much stuff to remove just to get to it. should have done it when the thermostat and housing was replaced but I had no idea it would fail.

then i'll work on the wheel bearings thinking that shouldn't take too long already had it partially apart trying to test them so given my slow speed i am thinking an hour to two each side depending on the heat that could be one side each day.

hopefully by sunday i'll have all the van stuff done and could start on the jeep repairs.

then i guess when driving it should only take a few days to know for sure if the bearings was the issue of course when i remove them i probably should be able to tell as well.

ryan

 

hello everyone.

just did the front wheel bearings on both sides of the van. to be honest they seemed to be fine to me but I can't understand why the last mechanic would have used new grease without removing the old grease.

i'm about to test and see if its still doing it. only problem is it could take a few days for it to happen again. it was not a constant thing. would drive fine for quite a while then would happen.

what i did notice on the passenger side brake pad the metal tab sheet was not on properly in fact it is broke on one side and freely moves so for the moment i just removed it.

hopefully what I did will get me by until i get the jeep repairs completed.

but I am thinking if it still is having a problem i'll go ahead and replace the caliper and brake hoses. the rotors look good and have no bearings and seals so i'd not replace those. might go ahead and do the brakes although the ones on the van look like they have plenty of life left but that one tab i took off might just push me (even if braking seems fine) to new pads as well.

I'll update in a few days on if the issue is fixed or not. sooner if it comes back during the testing today.

ryan

 

Faulty disc brake caliper or warped rotor. Either will cause intermittently drag at first, then as the parts heat up may cause progressively severe wheel drag.If you can't figure it out by inspecting the rotor then any competent auto parts store (autozone) will generally be happy to test your rotor for excessive runout or imbalance (free). If the rotor tests good then the issue lies with the caliper.

Hint: front disc brake calipers are a known issue with Dodge Ram trucks/vans.